SHARE
movie watching energy expended
Energy spent watching your favorite movies. infographic by Sara Chodosh

Nostalgic about browsing at Blockbuster? Don’t be. Of all the ways to view a film at home, driving to a store to rent a copy consumes by far the most energy. It’s not exactly a Shyamalan twist to learn that gas-­guzzling vehicles are bad for the environment. But what if we told you that streaming uses as much juice as getting a flick in the mail, old-school ­Netflix-​style? An hour of streaming equals just over a week of light from a 10-watt LED bulb.

The networks that supply zippy internet don’t run on movie magic—­everything you do online has a carbon footprint. The above chart shows where each viewing method draws its power.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2019 Make It Last issue of Popular Science.

Sara Chodosh
Sara Chodosh

Sara Chodosh was an editor at Popular Science for more than 5 years, where she worked her way up from editorial assistant to associate science editor. In that time she slowly took over running the Charted section of the now-defunct print magazine. Her love of graphics eventually led to her current job as a graphics editor at the New York Times. Contact the author here.

culture
streaming